In Need of Some Rest
by inthelittledoctor
Summary: [Post 'The Zygon Inversion'] Clara confronts The Doctor about something he said to Bonnie which essentially just leads to major fluff. {Whouffaldi}


'Doctor?' She's questioning, running her hand along the edge of the console while rounding it towards him.

'Clara,' he's responding, his voice devoid of emotion.

She's letting her hand fall from the console and walking up the staircase in from of her, letting her hands trail on the rilings on either side of her. 'What you said back there, when you were trying to convince that zygon to close the Osgood box, did you really mean it?'

'You're going to have to be more specific,' he's grumbling, taking a step towards one of the bookcases and pretending to search for a book.

'You said whenever you close your eyes, you hear screaming. More screams than anyone could ever be able to count.' She's saying, her voice trailing off at the end as she reaches the top of the staircase, gripping tight to the railing.

'Yes, Clara, I meant it,' he's saying, letting the smallest bit of sadness show through his facade.

'Why didn't you ever tell me that?' She's whispering.

He's quickly turning on his heel and suddenly his voice is like thunder as he shouts,'Because if I were to tell you, what could you have possibly done? All you would do is fret about me and try and comfort me, but we both know that comfort won't fix what's happened to me. I don't want my pain to be another one of your worries so I didn't tell you,' his shouting turns into a whisper as he says the last sentence.

She's suddenly noticing the dark circles under his eyes and the exhausted look on his face,'How long's it been since you last slept?'

He's not saying anything for a moment, resulting in her taking the final few steps towards him and experimentally reaching her hand out towards his, intertwining her fingers with his. He's making no attempt to tell her off, so she's assuming he's okay with it.

'I've lost track of how long it's been,' he's muttering, his tone distant.

She's frowning and squeezing his hand lightly, whispering,'How about you get some rest?'

'I can't,' he's breathing out, his voice laced with fear.

'I've an idea,' she's saying, her lips curving up mischievously.

He's furrowing his brow and looking at her, confusion in his eyes. She's smiling fully now and taking a step away from him, tugging on his hand. He's taking a hesitant step towards her before asking,

'Where're you dragging me off to?'

'Well, that depends on where we landed,' she's saying, casting a quick glance towards the console.

'We're at your flat,' he's stating, answering her unasked question.

'Well then, I suppose that means we're going to my bedroom. Come on, then,' she's saying, her voice light with a hint of hopefulness in it.

He's sighing and taking the first step, letting her step up to his side before continuing to walk to the TARDIS doorway with her following on his heels. He's pushing open the TARDIS door and stepping into her room, having her step out after him, letting go of his hand and walking over to her bed with a bounce to her step. She's spinning around and sitting down on her bed, shooting him a quick grin. He's sighing and sitting down in front of her three mirrors, staring intently at her reflection in the mirror.

'So, Clara Oswald, what's your brilliant plan?' He's asking, no curiosity in his voice.

'You and I are going to sleep together,' she's replying casually.

His eyes are widening slightly before he spins around in her chair and says firmly,'We most certainly are not.'

She's pouting and patting the spot on the bed next to her,'Please?'

'No, Clara,' he's saying, standing up and striding towards the TARDIS.

'Doctor, please don't leave,' she's begging, her words rushed.

He's looking at her and sighing, asking,'What do you want me to do then?'

'Just, lay down with me. You don't have to touch me and we don't have to do anything you're not comfortable doing, but please, just try laying down with me,' she's saying, hoping her words are strong enough to break his resolve.

He's sighing in defeat, her words doing exactly what was intended of them. He's moping over to her bed and sitting down next to her, his hands finding their way into his pockets. She's smiling thankfully at him and resting her hand on his knee, squeezing it lightly and thanking him. He's not responding and looking over at her, his eyes more tired than she'd ever seen them.

'C'mon,' she's whispering, taking her hand off his knee,'Let's get some of those layers off you so you can sleep.'

He's grunting quietly and she stands up, moving so that she's in front of him and pushing his coat off his shoulders, carefully folding it and placing it on the corner of her bed. She's grabbing the hem of his jumper hesitantly, hearing his breath hitch as she does so. He's quickly grabbing her wrist, his grip on it loose.

'I've got it,' he's mumbling, dropping her wrist and waiting for her to let go of his jumper.

She's letting go of his jumper and biting her lip, watching his wrap his fingers around the hem of his jumper and pull it off, the shirt under his jumper getting pulled up with it. She's looking at his stomach, seeing grey hairs scattered about it and biting her lip harder to keep herself from commenting on it. She's seeing him pull his jumper off his head out of the corner of her eye and quickly looking up at him, giving him a nervous smile as he bunches up his jumper and places it on top of his coat. He's noticing the feeling of cool air on his stomach and looking down to see his shirt halfway up his chest. He's narrowing his eyes at his shirt and quickly pulling it down, looking over at her to see a slight look of disappointment in her eyes.

He's thinning his lips and looking at her for a moment before bending down and untying his boots. She's quickly finding her way back to the bed, sitting back down next to him and folding her hands in her lap, watching the way his curly hair bounced slightly as he untied his shoes. He's taking his shoes off and placing them on top of his clothes pile, looking over at her, awaiting her next order. She's looking at him for a moment, not quite understanding why he was looking at her. She didn't mind of course, but he rarely took time to just look at her for no reason.

'Why're you looking at me?' She's questioning, confused.

'What do I do now?' He's asking.

She's breathing out a sudden 'oh of realisation before pointing at the bed behind her awkwardly, telling him to lie down. He's scooting back on the bed until he's a little ways away from the pillow, crossing his legs and grabbing his ankles, looking at her like a bewildered owl. She's looking back at him and breathing out a laugh at how he's looking at her, quickly turning around and getting on her hands and knees, crawling over to him. She's sitting down in front of him, mirroring him by crossing her legs and grabbing her ankles, her knees almost touch his.

'Lie down, Doctor,' she's whispering.

'I can sleep like this,' he's stating, trying to put up a fight.

'Somehow I don't believe that,' she's saying, taking her hands off her ankles and planting them on his knees.

He's looking at her with a furrowed brow before saying,'I'm going to sleep like this, Clara. There's nothing you can do to get me to lie down.'

'You sure about that?' She's asking, tapping her fingers on his knees.

'Almost certain,' he's replying.

She's pushing her lips together for a moment and getting lost in thought before questioning,'What if I were to hug you?'

'I'm really not all that bothered by hugging anymore,' he's admitting, looking at her hands on his knees.

She's looking at him, giving herself a few more seconds to think of ways to make him lay down, before letting out a breath she'd been holding and taking her hands off his knees and shifting over to his side, moving so there's some distance between them and laying down on her bed.

'Have it your way,' she's mumbling, defeated.

He's looking over at her and asking,'Aren't you going to at least take your shoes off?'

She's letting out an exasperated huff and bolting upright, quickly ridding herself of her shoes and dropping them onto the floor next to her bed. She's laying back down quickly and turning onto her side, facing away from him.

'Goodnight, Doctor,' she's saying, trying to not let the anger in her voice show.

'Goodnight, Clara,' he's muttering.

She's only just closed her eyes before she hears him say her name, causing her to turn her her and attempt to look at him.

'What is it, Doctor?' She's asking, her voice more aggravated than anything.

He's scooting closer to her and hesitantly reaching his hand out for hers, only to end up pulling his hand away nervously. She's feeling the bed move next to her and turning over so she's facing him, suddenly seeing him much closer than he was before.

He's finally gathering his courage and reaching out to hold her hand, looking down at his feet after he's done so. She's smiling slightly as she feels his hand in hers, looking up at him and seeing a slightly worried look on his face as he stares at his feet. She's sitting up and leaning over, planting a kiss on his cheek before falling back down onto the bed. Even in the dim lighting of the room, she can see the rosy tint on his cheeks which causes her to giggle. Her giggle's causing his hearts to feel like their clenching and he's looking over at her, seeing a smile on her lips. He's resisting the urge to brush some of the hair out of her face that fallen down, afraid that if he gets too close he might want to do more than just brush aside her hair.

She's watching as he looks at her, his eyes darting from her lips to her hair and finally to her eyes, the look in his eyes telling her that he's lost in thought. She's closing her eyes after a while, assuming he's eventually going to get too tired to think and fall asleep. Although he doesn't. She feels his grip on her hand tighten and then loosen several times in the next five minutes and she swears if he does it one more time she's going to go mad. She hears him whisper something, and if she wasn't positive that he would never say something like that, then she would've sworn that he just said she was beautiful.

She's opening her eyes and looking at him, her brow furrowing at she sees him looking at her intently.

'What're you up to, daft old man?' she's asking quietly.

'Can't sleep. Too much screaming,' he's replying, saying it as if it doesn't bother him too terribly much.

'So you're looking at me?' She's asking.

He's nodding slightly, admitting,' I honestly thought you were asleep by now.'

'Can't exactly sleep with you squeezing my hand every few seconds,' she's saying, trying not to sound annoyed.

'Oh,' he's breathing out, quickly letting go of her hand,'Sorry.'

She's sighing and taking his hand again, saying sincerely,'There's no need to be sorry, alright?'

He's nodding again and continuing to look at her, his gaze not once leaving her. She's moving closer to him and nodding down at the pillow beside her, telling him to lie down. He's refusing again, resulting in her sitting up and glaring at him, her grip on his hand tightening.

'I'm going to tell you this one more time, and you're not going to like what's going to happen if you don't do what I ask of you,' she's whispering angrily before growling,' Lie. Down.'

'You said we wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with,' he's saying, slightly nervous.

'Doctor, lying down shouldn't be uncomfortable for you!' She's saying, her voice suddenly loud.

He's glaring at her before quickly letting go of her hand and placing his hands on his knees, finally tearing his gaze away from her. She's groaning and wrapping her arms around him, laying back down and pulling him down with her. He's glaring at her and trying to pry her arms off of him, only to have her hold onto him tighter as a result.

'Clara, let go of me,' he's saying firmly, his tone warning.

'Not until you agree to stay lying down,' she's saying, nuzzling into his shoulder.

'I'm not agreeing to anything,' he's muttering, his tone angry.

'Well then, guess I'm not letting go of you,' she's mumbling into his shoulder.

She's suddenly letting out a yawn that's muffled by his shoulder and she's closing her eyes, her arms loosening their grip on him. His glare is turning into a look of defeat as he seeing her breaths become more shallow and her lips part slightly. He's sitting up slightly, feeling her arm around his front tighten around him slightly.

He's breathing out a laugh and whispering,'Don't worry, Clara Oswald, I'm not going anywhere.'

He's retrieving her arm that was laying under him, intertwining his fingers with hers and placing their hands in between the two of them. He's seeing a small smile find it's way onto her lips and he's sighing.

'I know you're awake, Clara,' he's stating.

She's opening her eyes and whispering,'Can you pretend I'm not? Because I rather enjoy the things you do when you think I'm asleep.'

He's looking up at the ceiling and placing his free hand on the arm around his chest, whispering,'Thank you, Clara.'

'For what?' She's asking, confused.

He's taking his hand off her arm for a moment gesturing at the both of them,'All of this.'

She's feeling his hand drop back onto her arm and her smile is widening,'You're welcome, I suppose.'

She's kissing his shoulder before mumbling a quick goodnight and promptly falling asleep. He's smiling down at her as his eyes drift shut, the last words leaving his lips before sleep over takes him being another thanks for what she had done.

And for the first time in a long time, he sleeps with almost no nightmares. Hears no screaming when he closes his eyes. All he hears when he closes his eyes being the sound of Clara Oswald's gentle breathing next to him. A content smile graces his lips while he sleeps and when he wakes up the next morning, he finds their limbs tangled up and tells himself that they should do this much more often.


End file.
